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New england vs chesapeake colonies
New england vs chesapeake colonies
Differences between british colonies in america
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Around the 1700's there were two regions of English colonization, New England and the Chesapeake Bay. These two regions varied greatly. Physical, religious, political and social differences separated them. The seeds of diversity in America were planted in the early days of colonization when they grew into distinctive societies. Early on it was apparent that the Colonists came to America with different motives. Some came for religious reasons while others came to get rich. Religion was the basis of the people's lives in New England, but in the Chesapeake region, money and producing tobacco dominated life. This would affect the colonies economically, socially, and politically. Puritans left England because they wanted a place where they could have religious …show more content…
tolerance. When the Church of England separated from Catholicism under Henry VIII, (Manuscript Division, 2007) Protestantism flourished in England, however the Puritans believed the religion needed to be purified so they left. Their religious ideologies were conveyed through John Winthrop's “City on a Hill" speech, (Robert Jennings Heinsohn, 2015) it expressed the basic ideology behind the settlement structure. It claimed that the Puritans in New England lived according to God's will and would stand together as one. Also, they wanted to prove to the world what a heavenly perfected society they can create. Their towns were well organized, with the church being the basis of everyone's daily life. An example of their oneness is "Articles of Agreement in Springfield, Massachusetts 1636," (Robert Jennings Heinsohn, 2015) they wanted to establish equality and have everyone working together mutually. They learned useful farming techniques from the Native Americans, and farming was their prime source of the economy. And later they relied on artisan-industries like carpentry, shipbuilding, and printing. The Puritan work ethic kept people from working for extreme material gain. Attempts at economic equality and faithfulness is exhibited by "Wage and Price Regulations 1976" (Manuscript Division, 2007). The Puritans were hard workers who had a goal for a religiously purified town. Family was also very important in their society. Since they followed the Bible so closely, they had to have stable and well-structured families. They were family orientated people who stuck closely together. Many families came together when they arrived in New England, as seen in the "Ship's List of Emigrants Bound for New England" (Golferbell13, 2012). A much more stable family life took root in New England. With more families traveling to the new world, there would be more balance in the ratio of men and women. Also there would be a wider variety of occupations. This enabled the town to be more nourished. On the other hand, the people on the "Ship's List of Emigrants Bound for Virginia" came without their families (Google, Unknown), their ages ranged from old to young people, but mainly young men. The men outnumbered the women six to one. This caused the society to be more chaotic because there were many broken families, and a large scramble for the few women. This is a big difference because it shows how these people were coming over to help themselves and start a new life in the Chesapeake region. These Chesapeake settlers were closely tied to the Church of England, which signifies they would be more loyal to the mother country, while the Protestants wanted to break away from the church. The settlers in the Chesapeake Bay region main goal were to get rich. Most set out to get land and to find gold. According to John Smith, all they could do was live for gold, it was their only purpose. They were greedy and hungry for it. This was the total opposite from the Puritans, whose main goal was to create a pure religion (Zinn, 2015). The Chesapeake Bay people had to endure the harshness of their new environment. The climate was not favorable and the air was unhealthy. Nearly half of the people died because of exposure to diseases. Many had to make a living by planting so they could make money to survive. Large Tobacco plantations were started. These businessmen were not use to being agricultural farmers. This was why things were so hard before John Smith took over. They were not accustomed to hard work and the colony was dying. As a result the first importation of slavery began in the colonies. At first indentured servants were being used, but they were less exploited than the slaves. They worked for the person who paid their way to the Colony until the depths were paid off. (Zinn, 2015) But after a while, their services were less useful and slaves were being imported in massive numbers. The colonial planters were making money and gaining large profits. In the Chesapeake Bay the first official government in the colonies was the House of Burgess. It was a legislative form of government to represent the common wealth of the people. It was very similar to the British Parliament. But they did not cater to everyone, only men over 17 and land owners. Chesapeake did not stay a joint stock charter for long because it was evoked by the King. He did not like that the colonists had their own government and was making such large profits off of tobacco sales. As a result a royal colony originated. England sent their own Governor, Berkley (Manuscript Division, 2007). The plantation workers were happy about his arrival. Whoever did not abide by his rules were kicked out or punished. The bay was attacked by the Dutch and it was made clear they could not defend themselves because of the document written about "Berkley's inability to defend Virginia." (Manuscript Division, 2007) Bacon was fed up of Berkeley and his assembly men. He gathered a group of rebels, attacked the Native Americans, and went after the British militia. Berkeley sent troops, but they were ineffective and weak.
Bacon believed he had a strong motive for attacking, as he reasoned in his "manifesto." (Manuscript Division, 2007) The Puritans constructed a well-rounded Theocracy with an elected official in charge. Traces of Democracy were visible in the Puritans' journey to the New England. They created the Mayflower Compact, voting for someone to represent them, this demonstrated their leadership skills and system of organization. They had set rules so their towns could run cohesively (Robert Jennings Heinsohn, 2015). Education was vitally important the Puritans. The first university, Yale, was established by them in Massachusetts. They created public education so their children can learn different professions so they can have future careers. In contrast to the Chesapeake bay, where only the wealthy would learn because they would be privately tutored (Robert Jennings Heinsohn, 2015). These different groups of people started to mold America into what we have today. Their significant differences and purposes in this New World helped to create our diverse country (Zinn, 2015). They with different motives and aims. Their goals that they wanted to accomplish
varied. With two groups and two different missions the American culture was being made into the "big melting pot" (Zinn, 2015) we have today
The Chesapeake and New England regions were settled by people of English descent, but by 1700, they had become two distinctly different societies. They had evolved so differently, mainly because of the way that the settlers followed their religion, their way of conducting politics and demographics in the colonies. Even though the settlers came from the same homeland: England, each group had its own reasons for coming to the New World and different ideas planned for the colonies.
The Crusades of the middle ages introduced much innovative and formerly unheard of merchandise into Western Europe; however the scarcity of these luxury goods instilled Europeans with drive to find easier access to the Far East. Although desired "Northwest Passage" never was found, joint-stock companies, like the Virginia Company of London, settled colonies in the New World for untapped resources such as silver and other tradable goods. Many more corporations followed suit, settling mainly in the Chesapeake Bay area, their small settlements eventually developing into the Chesapeake colonies. The Chesapeake colonies were focused primarily on profitable enterprises. At the same time, the New England colonies were being settled with a whole different set of initiatives, principally religious freedoms and family. Governing bodies were established, with their success dependent on the quality of the settlers the colony attracted. The different motives for settlement affected the routine events in such a way that the New England and Chesapeake colonies differed very greatly from one another even though they were both mainly settled by the English.
Looking at the early English colonies in the Chesapeake Bay region, it’s clear that the English had not learned any lessons from their experiences at Roanoke. Poor planning, a bad location, unrealistic expectations, flawed leadership, unsuccessful relations with the local Indians, and no hope of finding the mineral wealth the Spanish found in Mexico, all contributed to failure. The first colonists in the Chesapeake region were not only ignorant, lazy and unambitious, but their attempts were hampered before they had begun. However, a solution to these problems was found in a single plant: tobacco. Nevertheless, this cash crop ultimately created numerous problems for the colonists. The ignorance and indolent acts of the Chesapeake colonists to unsuccessfully restore the colony by themselves led to the demise of the colony as a whole especially regarding the planting of agricultural goods for food.
When the English settled into the New World, they were split up into two sections, the Chesapeake region and the New England region. Although the English settled both, the two regions were severely different from each other when they were brought about. The New England and Chesapeake colonies differed in three ways: their reason for venturing over, economy, and population. These major differences were what shaped our nation today and what will continue shaping our nation in the future.
The English Settlement in the New World was largely the result of the Age of Exploration. The English started emigrated to the New World around the early 1600s; they settles in regions including the New England and the Chesapeake region and by the 18th century these two regions had developed their own society. These two regions had developed different political, economic and social system in their regions. The political differences were due to who governs the colony. The economic differences were due to the motives of the settlement. The social differences were due to the people who settled there, while the New England emigrated as a family, the Chesapeake emigrated with mostly male.
In the 17th century, the British colonies still identified themselves as European, but as the colonies expanded and grew more populous, they developed differing geographic, social, and economic systems. This difference between New England, and Chesapeake, is caused by the motivations for settlement between the two regions. While the New England colonies were mainly settled for religious motivations, most notably by the Puritans, the Chesapeake colonies were settled for economic prosperity. Also, while the Chesapeake colonies were mainly settled by individual young men seeking a profit, the New England colonies were settled by families hoping to settle and expand.
During colonial times, European nations quickly colonized the New World years after Columbus’ so called discovery. England in particular sent out a number of groups to the east coast of the New World to two regions. These areas were the New England and the Chesapeake regions. Later in the late 1700s, these two regions would go though many conflicts to come together as one nation. Yet, way before that would occur; these two areas developed into two distinct societies. These differences affected the colonies socially, economically, and politically.
During the 1600's, many people in the American colonies led very many different lives, some better than others. While life was hard for some groups, other colonists were healthy and happy. Two groups that display such a difference are the colonists of New England and Chesapeake Bay. New Englanders enjoyed a much higher standard of living. This high standard of New England's was due to many factors, including a healthier environment, better family situation, and a high rate of reproduction.
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions. These two regions were known as the Chesapeake and the New England areas. Later, in the late 1700's, these two areas would bond to become one nation. Yet from the very beginnings, both had very separate and unique identities. These differences, though very numerous, spurred from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.
The colonists had different reasons for settling in these two distinct regions. The New England region was a more religiously strict yet diverse area compared to that of the Chesapeake Bay. The development of religion in the two regions came from separate roots. After Henry VIII and the Roman Catholic Church broke away from each other, a new group of English reformers was created called the Puritans. The Puritans came from protestant backgrounds, after being influenced by Calvinistic ideas. When their reforms were thwarted by King James I of England, they fled to the New World in what is now known as the "Great Migration". The Puritans were then joined by Quakers, Protestants, and Catholics in the religiously diverse New England area. These diverse religious factions were allowed to live freely but under the laws of New England. It was due to this religious freedom that these people came to escape religious persecution back home. The New Englanders had a religion-based society and religion was based on family. As the Bible highly regarded family, it condemned adultery. Adultery was considered a punishable crime. Adulterers were marked as impure by a letter "A" stitched on their clothing, as in the book "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. As religion was a very high priority in New England, it was very much less severe in the Chesapeake Bay region. The one established church in the region, the Anglican Church of Jesus Christ, was only then established in 1692, more than 70 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.
There were a myriad of differences between Great Britain and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but these differences can be divided into three basic categories: economic, social, and political. The original American settlers came to the colonies for varied reasons, but a common trait among these settlers was that they still considered themselves British subjects. However, as time passed, the colonists grew disenfranchised from England. Separated from the king by three thousand miles and living in a primitive environment where obtaining simple necessities was a struggle, pragmatism became the common thread throughout all daily life in the colonies. It was this pragmatism that led the colonists to create their own society with a unique culture and system of economics and politics.
While residing in England, the Puritans and faithful Catholics faced prosecution, which led to their immigration to the New World. Most left England to avoid further harassment. Many groups and parishes applied for charters to America and, led by faithful ministers, the Pilgrims and Puritans made the long voyage to North America. Their religion became a unique element in the New England colonies by 1700. Before landing, the groups settled on agreements, signing laws and compacts to ensure a community effort towards survival when they came to shore, settling in New England. Their strong sense of community and faith in God led them to develop a hardworking society by year 1700, which Documents A and D express through the explanation of how the Pilgrims and Puritans plan to develop...
In 1419, Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal began the period of time known as the “Age of Exploration”. Europe’s leading superpowers, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and England, all competed for colonization in unknown territories. Samuel de Champlain colonized along the St. Lawrence River in 1608, Henry Hudson of Holland established Albany in 1609, and Spain established colonies in Mexico and Mesoamerica. In 1607, England established its first colony in North America around the Chesapeake Bay, and nearly a decade later established a second colony in present-day New England. Both New England and the Chesapeake were founded by the British around the same time; however, both colonies developed a different economy, government, and many other ways of life.
There were many reasons why the colonists came to North America. One reason was because they wanted to escape King Edward so they could fallow freely their own religion and to seek riches. Also the Puritans came to North America because they wanted a lace to practice their religion without fear of the government. Also that the religion they wanted to practice was considered more fundamentalist than what was being practiced from where they came. the English colonies were successful in North America was because the British tried so many times to get more money the colonists got mad and boycotted- refuse to use-the British goods. Then the British government kind of loosened their restraints and gave the American colonists some freedom.
... and societal freedoms continued to attracted settlers from various countries. Still developing, these colonies formed their own identity, at times violating the very reason for immigration: to escape the ties of religious regulations. Upholding personal beliefs over the emergence of new ideas, and the possibility of losing others to another faith spurred the controversy to expel those threatening the colony. As a result, one could not attain complete religious freedom. Instead, families formed based on common belief, or aspirations: those with the desire for land, and large farming moved to the Carolina’s, while those wishing for a Puritan society moved to Massachusetts. The traveling of family immigrants, coupled with the desire for success allowed the immigrants to find new life in the uncharted territory, and as a whole, establish a unique structural identity.